Praying for Daylight
by Christine Writer
Summary: Katniss/Peeta. Katniss POV. Post rebellion, pre prologue. Katniss can't stand to be without Peeta. ONESHOT. Songfic to "Praying for Daylight" by Rascal Flatts.


Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games or "Praying for Daylight"

_I've got the lights turned up  
The door is locked, the bedroom TV's on_

The mansion Katniss possessed in the Victor's Village was immense compared to her family's home in the Seam. She didn't know what to do with all of the space she now owned. She mostly just stayed in her room, with the door locked against anyone who came to ask after her. Greasy Sae had been by every day, leaving food by her bedroom door, and collecting the plates when she was finished. Katniss knew that Sae knew that she appreciated the support. She hadn't spoken to anyone since she had gotten back from District 13. The food had simply started appearing, three times a day. She simply curled up in bed and turned the television on as loud as her ears could stand it. She knew that it was too loud, but she also knew that her house was so far from anyone else's that no one could hear it. Except for Peeta. He could probably hear it from his own mansion.

_Doing the only thing that gets me through the night  
Since you've been gone_

Peeta had tried to come over, when he had first returned to District 12. She hadn't let him in. She had refused to even speak to him.

"Katniss, I know you're there." Peeta had said to her closed door. "Please let me in."

He had given up after a while, and somehow, it hurt her when he left. That made no sense, because she hadn't asked him to stay. She somehow assumed that he would, even if she didn't ask. Instead, he had left.

Praying for daylight waiting for that morning sun  
So I can act like my whole life isn't going wrong

The nights were the worst. Nightmares and memories were her only companions, and they were not kind ones. Every dawn that crept into Katniss's room assured her that she could fall asleep. She would sleep from first light until breakfast, and then she would be awake for another twenty hours.

_Peeta, come back to me, I swear I'll make it right  
Don't make me spend another lonely night  
Praying for daylight  
_

She wished that she had the courage to call Peeta and ask him to come. The only way she could get more than a few hours of sleep would be if he came and guarded her.

I made a bad miscalculation  
Betting you would never leave  
'Cause if your getting on with your new life  
Then where does that leave me

She hadn't thought he would leave and not come back. She had been mistaken in how much he cared for her. Katniss kicked herself mentally that she hadn't responded to him. She didn't know for sure, but she believed that Peeta had to be getting on with his life, without her. He was so resilient that he was probably bouncing right back into life in District 12.

_Praying for daylight  
Hoping that I didn't wait too long  
I didn't wait too long  
That this is just the dark before the dawn  
_

At quarter to five the next morning, Katniss reached for the phone. She couldn't stand to see another day dawn without Peeta by her side, where he belonged. The inky darkness outside permeated her being, and she felt like she was drowning in it. She dialed the number she knew by heart, and waited. It rang for eons, it seemed. Was she too late? Would Peeta refuse to answer when she needed him most?

_Deep in my heart I know  
That you love me as much as I love you  
And that you must be lying somewhere  
Looking up to heaven too  
Praying for daylight_

"Katniss?" Peeta answered. She couldn't form the words. She burst into tears and hung up.

Minutes later, she heard a noise outside. Then footsteps on the stairs.

"Katniss." his voice, warm, and loving, sounded on the other side of her door. She opened it and fell into his arms.

"I need you." she told him, as he lifted her and carried her into her room in one swift motion.

"I've spent every night wide awake, hoping that one more day would come so you would call." he admitted as he sat down on the couch in her room. Katniss made no move to leave his arms, and he was glad. "I love you." he whispered.

"I love you, too."

Both knew then that they would survive, but only if they were together._  
_


End file.
